Pumpkin! (with orzo and sage)

It is official: I am finally done with my PT classwork.  Crazy and exciting all at the same time.  Now I am spending my days working at a pre-school for blind children for the next 16 weeks.  It has surprised me so far, and I am actually enjoying it.

Even though I have been getting home late, I have been trying a few new recipes, and this one turned out quite good.  For a little more punch, I would increase the sage and the garlic.  I found this recipe through The Kitchn, and thought that it would make a lovely fall pasta.  It is fairly light but maintains rich fall flavors.  Enjoy!  

Pumpkin Orzo with Sage

• 2 cups orzo 
• 6 cups water
• 1 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped finely
• 1/4 pumpkin (make the rest into pumpkin puree)
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts
• 1 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Garnish

• Fresh Basil
• Tomato
• Parmesan

1. Preheat the oven to 375
2. Peel pumpkin using a potato peeler
3. Cut 1/4 of the pumpkin into small squares, about 1/2 inch thick.
4. Toss pumpkin squares with 1 part of the olive oil, cinnamon, sage, red pepper flakes, garlic, salt, and pepper
5. Spread in a single layer in a baking dish for 30-35 minutes until easily pierced by toothpick
6. Heat water until boiling, then add orzo and stir occasionally
7. After 8 minutes, drain orzo and put back into pot. Add pumpkin cubes, pine nuts, and rest of olive oil.
8. Garnish with tomato, Parmesan, and fresh basil

Settling In and Peach Crisp

The craziness has ended.  Wedding fun has wrapped up, I am basically finished with my classwork for PT school, and fall is approaching fast.  The HE needs a new name, but I am not feeling witty at the moment, so he will have to wait.

This summer has been amazing, and ended with a wonderful wedding.  We were so lucky to have all of our friends and family gather to celebrate our marriage.  My mom and some great friends and family took on the task of preparing the food, which turned out fantastically.  I will post some recipes soon.  All of my energy, heart, and soul went into the wedding, and I was so pleased to have it turn out beautifully.

Now we are back to sanity, and settling in as husband and wife. Still sounds funny. I have realized how much I miss cooking. Over the past two weeks, I have been making all my favorites: roasted chicken (I still need to actually write down how I do that), stuffed squash, grilled vegetables, and homemade pizza. I was going to post the pizza recipe, but I attempted my own crust that was very far from perfect, so that will have to wait. Today was drizzly and northwest-like in Denver, so we made simple baked potatoes followed by easy, single-serving peach crisps. Palisade, Colorado is famous (apparently) for their peaches, so this is in honor of local peach season.
Fall is my favorite food season (yes, each season has a reason I love it), so look forward to deliciousness.


Peach Crisp
Serves 4

• 2 medium to large peaches
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• pinch salt
• pinch nutmeg
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 2 tablespoons butter room temperature
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

1. Pre-heat oven to 350
2. Roughly peel peaches and dice into 1/2 inch cubes
3. Combine peaches, white sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.  Stir well
4. Drizzle honey over top, and mix again until all peaches are coated
5. In a separate bowl combine butter and brown sugar with a fork, until reasonably mixed
6. Add oats, and mix with hands or mash with spoon until oats begin to clump together
7. Divide peaches into 4 small ramekins
8. Divide oat mixture into 4 and press onto tops of peach mixture
9. Bake 15 minutes, or until golden brown and warmed through